Thaindian News

Mumbai, July 29 (IANS) A day after accusing the oil ministry of adopting a partisan stand in the Reliance gas dispute, Anil Ambani Wednesday said his company had served a notice to the parties and will move court for an early resolution of the matter.
Speaking to reporters over a conference call here, Anil Ambani said his group’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd had served the notice on both the petroleum ministry and Reliance Industries for an early settlement of the dispute.

“The honourable Supreme Court will be requested to take up the matter for final hearing on Sep 1,” Ambani said, adding a petition on these lines will be moved in the apex court Thursday and hoped the government will back this initiative.

“Reliance Natural Resources hopes that they (the oil ministry) will also agree to our request for final hearing of the matter and will not be misled, misguided by Reliance Industries,” he said.

“Of course, I will be personally happy to be proven wrong if Reliance Industries (led by his elder brother Mukesh Ambani) also agrees to our request tomorrow if they genuinely want the matter to be resolved expeditiously.”

Last month, the Bombay High Court had asked Reliance Industries to supply 28 million units of gas from Krishna-Godavari basin to Reliance Natural Resources for 17 years at $2.34 per unit, after assigning 12 million units to the state-run power utility NTPC.

But Reliance Industries challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court, which heard the case July 20 and fixed Sep 1 as the next date of hearing. It also asked all parties to file their replies on the government position on the matter by then.

According to Anil Ambani, the resolution of the gas dispute was also important as it was holding up power projects of at least 12,000 MW at a time when the country was facing acute shortage of electricity.

His outburst Tuesday had created quite a stir in the corridors of power in the national capital where Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Law Minister V. Moily held an hour-long meeting late evening with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee over the allegations.

Sources in the oil ministry said the government may now seek the Supreme Court’s permission to modify its affidavit filed in the matter while also wanting to join the dispute as an intervener.

Wednesday also saw the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, adjourn more than once when some members, led by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, asked for Deora’s resignation over the matter.

Their main contention was that the petroleum ministry was unable to ensure gas supplies from the Reliance gas fields to the crucial Dadri power project in Uttar Pradesh on the outskirts of the national capital.